Well, we've finally lined up a sponsor for the Scoreboard: Pontiac. Spencer would look darn good in one of these babies. https://youtu.be/sOl-FST6LBo.

Horizon:It was a very bad night for the Horizon.

Illinois 89, Detroit 69. OK, we got beat off the dribble again and again, and too often played out-of-control on offense. Yet there were good things--at times some good defense; a fine effort by Hogan; and boy when Josh McFolley heats up is it fun to watch. AFS had at least three really nice moves to the basket tonight where he just couldn't finish. We need to get better.

Oakland 102, Goshen 59. Hey, we could probably do that, too. Martez "Melonhead" Walker had 21 for Oakland, and has scored 22, 21, and 21 points as the Grizzleyneers have opened 3-0. Walker is shooting 51% from the floor on the season.

Jacksonville 79, Youngstown State 54. YSU, which looked good in defeating MAC favorite Akron and an OT loss at Toledo, looked very bad down in Jacksonville. The 'Guins do tend to live and die by the three, and tonight their 17% shooting from downtown meant that they died. Cameron Morse had 18.

Tennessee Martin 85, Cleveland State 74. This one was over by halftime, with UTM (3-1) leading 50-23. Rob Edwards finished with 22 for the Vikings (1-2), who are still without Demonte Flannigan

Non-Conference Opponents:Florida State 100, Winthrop 86. It won't get any easier for the Titans. FSU (3-0) rather methodically took down a good Winthrop team with a balanced scoring attack (5 players in double figures, 11 players scoring), solid rebounding, and just 7 turnovers. Winthrop (2-1) was the unanimous choice to win the Big South in that conference's pre-season media and coaches poll. Center Michael Ojo led the way with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Other Games:#13 Michigan State 100, Mississippi Valley State 54. After opening losses to Kentucky and Arizona, MSU (1-2) has some well-deserved fun. Miles Bridges had 24 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists.

Michigan 76, SMU 54. Michigan (4-0) looked really good at the Y2K Classic in New York, following up last night's romp over Marquette by blasting SMU (3-1). Like last night, the Wolverines built a big lead in the opening minutes and just played even for the final 30, never allowing the Mustangs to get close. Derrick Walton led the way with 23 points and 6 assists.

UTEP 85, Western Michigan 75. Western has lost three straight, to Oakland, Villanova, and UTEP, which are a combined 9-1 on the year.

Mid-Major Win of the Night:Ohio U. 67, Georgia Tech 61. Tech (2-1) is pretty bad, but that's still a road win over the ACC. Antonio Campbell had 25 points and 12 rebounds, and Kenny Kaminski hit 5 three-pointers in the second half for OU (3-0).

Hard to believe that the season is already 10-20% done for most schools. Games for Saturday, Nov. 19:

Horizon:The Horizon had another bad night. It's early, but this is shaping up as a horrible season for the HL.

Oakland 107, Chicago State 79. Chicago State is always good for a win. Melonhead Walker had 24 to lead the Grizzlies (4-0), and Xavier Hill-Maas added 16.

A couple of Horizon teams lost to schools on the Titans' non-conference schedule: Toledo 82, Wright State 78. Mark Alstork poured in 39 points, but it wasn't enough to stave off defeat down at the Nutter Center. Wright State (2-1) used a 14-0 run late in the first half to lead going into the locker room, but Toledo wrapped a 14-2 run around the break to retake the lead. The Raiders recovered and gradually ground out a 7 point lead with under 5 minutes to play, but Toledo (2-1) closed it out on a 17-6 run for their second win over a Horizon team this week. Toledo got 23 points from Jaelan Sanford, 22 from Detroit native Jonathan Williams, and 14 points and 10 rebounds from Steve Taylor. Justin Mitchell helped out Alstork by scoring 15 for the Raiders. In these first 3 games, Alstork is averaging 32.7 points, 5.3 assists, and 6 rebounds per game.

Murray State 93, Green Bay 77. Down at Bowling Green's tournament, Green Bay led by 9 late in the first half, but Murray State put together a 7-0 run in the final two minutes of the half to cut the lead to 45-43, then steadily pulled away in the second half. Green Bay (1-2) shot 28% in the second half, to Murray State's 57%. Charles Cooper led Green Bay's effort with 17 points and 9 rebounds, and freshman Trevor Anderson added 15. For Murray State (2-1), Tulane Transfer Jonathan Stark scored 23, and is averaging 21 points through the first three games.

South Alabama 84, Youngstown State 75. This was a see-saw game until a 12-0 USA run midway through the second half. Cameron Morse had 27 points for YSU and is now averaging 28 ppg for YSU (1-3), but he continued to struggle from behind the arc, where he was 3-12 and is shooting just 28% on the year. Seven-foot center Jorden Kaufman added 17 points and 14 boards for the Penguins. Host South Alabama is off to a good start, 4-0 with a road win over UNLV.

Northern Kentucky 74, Delaware 53. Playing in a tournament at Miami of Ohio, the Norse (2-2) blew open a tight game with a 14-1 run to open the second half. Drew McDonald had 28 points and 13 rebounds, and the Norse held the Blue Hens (3-2) to 30% shooting and dominated the boards.

UIC 102, Trinity 66. UIC (2-1) beat up a local NAIA team. Tai Odiase led the way with 20 points.

Non-Conference Opponents:IUPUI 83, Eastern Michigan 70. EMU (2-3) has too much talent to be losing to the likes of IUPUI (2-2), even on the road. IUPUI won by shooting better, especially from behind the arc: 10 of 20 to EMU's 3 of 17. Raven Lee led Eastern with 20, and James Thompson added 14 points and 11 rebounds.

UMKC 71, Bowling Green 69. The visiting Kangaroos (2-1) rallied in the second half and won it on a Martez Harrison jumper in the final seconds. Harrison led all scorers with 23 points. Antwon Lillard had 19 for BGSU (0-3).

Belmont 90, Western Kentucky 69. I was surprised by how easy this game was for Belmont. Evan Bradds, who is a very fine player, had 26 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 assists for Belmont (1-1). Bradds led the nation in field goal percentage last year at over 71% while averaging 17.6 points and 9.2 rebounds. I'd take these two as Horizon members. Justin Johnson led Western Kentucky (2-1) with 17 points and 9 rebounds.

Fort Wayne 94, UMass-Lowell 81. Mo Evans had 33 points and 13 assists as IPFW--er, I mean, Ft. Wayne (have you noticed that everyone else is trying to shed their more complicated or hyphenated names to just be named for their city, e.g. Ft. Wayne, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Omaha, Buffalo, even Binghamton--and nobody has ever even heard of the city of Binghamton) wore down UMass-Lowell (well, wait, here's another exception, though maybe that's because "Lowell" sounds like a guy who'd play power forward for a team called "Mercy"). Anyway, Evans, added 5 steals for good measure. He's averaging over 23 points per game and stopping him will be a big task for the Titans next month. Fort Wayne is 2-2. Lowell is 1-3. For reasons having nothing to do with basketball, UMass-Lowell is one of my least favorite D-I teams. They're probably glad just to know someone thinks about them and knows that they exist.

Adrian 78, Manchester 56. Adrian swept a pair at home this weekend. Since the Bulldogs counted the Titan game as an Exhibition, they are officially 2-0.

Other Games You Don't Care About:

#1 Duke 78, Penn State 68. Given that Penn State lost to Albany and struggled to beat Grand Canyon and Duquesne at home, they can't be too disappointed with this result.#6 Indiana 87, Liberty 48. Indiana scored the first 9 points and never looked back. Should the Hoosiers be #1 in the polls this week? They beat Kansas, who beat Duke.#17 St. Mary's 61, Dayton 57. Dayton is not an easy place to win, but the Gaels (3-0) never trailed, built a 20 point second half lead, and held off a late Dayton (2-1) rally.#21 Rhode Island 76, #24 Cincinnati 71. Cincinnati (2-1) led by double digits through much of the first half but Rhode Island (4-0) rallied in the second. Michigander E.C. Mathews led Rhode Island with 18 points, and Kuran Iverson added 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Loyola 78, Oral Roberts 53. It's like the early days of the MCC! Loyola is 4-1, but their other three wins are over Alcorn State and D-II teams.Fairfield 70, Wagner 64. After opening with a win at Connecticut, Wagner has lost to UMass-Lowell and Fairfield.

Vermont 79, Lydon State 20. Halftime score: 43-4. Lydon, which according to its website, "plays in the highly competitive North Atlantic Conference, facing off against conference rivals Castleton, Johnson State, Green Mountain College, Colby Sawyer, New England College, Husson, The University of Maine Farmington, Maine Maritime Academy, and Thomas College," made 2 of 31 three point attempts, and 7 of 58 shots overall. You know it's been a bad game when for your "top performer" the ticker lists "Alexis Ravelo 4 PTS, 2 REB." For much if not all of the year, this game should keep Vermont (3-1) among the national leaders in 3 point field goal defense.

Mid Major Win of the Night: Perhaps the best we can do is Texas Southern over LaSalle (which is at least an A10 team). The Tigers (3-1) from the SWAC won it 77-76 on a buzzer-beating 3 pointer by Dulani Robinson.

Wins and wins and the Fightin' Pioneers are now 4-0 on the young season. You never know what the loss of a talent as big as Felders might be, but here they are.

Duke keeps getting injuries, Coach K has claimed its the most injured his team has ever been (he's never afraid to make big statements, especially ones that are intended to gain sympathy for the poor ole Blue Devils). When healthy they are LOADED. Them, Kentucky and Kansas are the creme de la creme of hoops this year - if everyone is healthy that is.

St Mary's at #17 and rising is cool to see. Have all their years of hard work paid off and they will now be among the higher ranks of hoops year in and year out like Xavier, Creighton, Butler before them? Good for them.

TitanTarHeel wrote:Wins and wins and the Fightin' Pioneers are now 4-0 on the young season. You never know what the loss of a talent as big as Felders might be, but here they are.

The Grizzlies next face their first big test of the non-conference season, three games at the Alaska Shootout against good mid-majors, starting with Nevada. As I noted in my season preview, If they win all three up there--which is a definite possibility--they have 4 more relatively easy games and could be 11-0 when they face Michigan State before Christmas.

The Grizzlies have just 1 senior on the roster, and add Illinois transfer Kendrick Nunn next year.

Horizon:Florida State 100, Detroit 71. One of the things that strikes me is how little different the Titans have been so far compared to Ray's teams. I know that the Titan kids work really hard all year, during the off-season as well as the season, and I think they play hard during games. Yet during Ray's years, I never quite sensed that the Titans had that attitude that "dammit, this loose ball is mine," and I still don't see quite that intensity. They still get beat when the opposition swings the ball around to the opposite corner. They still don't play with discipline at certain key moments. They still stand around on offense. We will not do well if we continue to have more turnovers than assists game after game.

I like the fact that the Titans didn't give up the first couple times FSU extended its lead. Corey Allen had a terrible shooting night but I really like his head for the game. I'm still excited about a McFolley/Allen backcourt the next couple years. Blackshear has been a disappointment this year. Foster-Smith plays really well in spurts but needs consistancy. I suppose you could say that about the entire team. We are giving up almost 99 points per game against D-I competition. Some of that is pace, but it's also obvious that the new emphasis on defense could use some more emphasis.

Green Bay 77, Bowling Green 61. Green Bay used a 16-0 run early in the second half to open a 13 point lead, withstood a countercharge that cut the margin to a point, and pulled away in the final 10 minutes. Freshman Trevor Anderson had 18 points and 7 rebounds for the Phoenix (2-2). Bowling Green remained winless. Antwon Lillard had 15 for the Falcons (0-4).

DePaul 77, Milwaukee 59. Eli Cain and Billy Barrett each had 20 as DePaul (2-1) pulled away from the Panthers (1-2) in the second half. Freshmen Bryce Barnes with 14, and Bryce Nze, with 13, led Milwaukee. DePaul freshman Al Eichelberger of Saginaw, once a top Titan recruiting target, had 5 points and 5 rebounds off the bench.

Youngstown State 78, Florida International 73. After 14 lead changes and 10 ties, YSU (2-3) made 9 of 10 foul shots in the final minute to hold off FIU (1-4). Matt Donlon was 6-6 from the line in that final minute. As usual, Cameron Morse led the Penguins, this time with 29 points.

Non-Conference Opponents:#19 West Virginia 100, New Hampshire 41. The Titans next opponent, New Hampshire, was pounded today by West Virginia (3-0). The Mountaineers went on an early 22-2 run and it was never close. New Hampshire (2-2) turned it over 34 times. Despite the blowout, Iba Camera came up with a double-double for the Cats with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Temple 88, Manhattan 67. Temple (2-2) nearly doubled up the Jaspers in the first half, then coasted home in the second. Zavier Turner had 28 in the loss. The Titans face Manhattan (1-3) this coming Saturday.

UMKC 85, Murray State 74. Lavell Boyd led the Kangaroos (3-1) with 21 points. The difference came at the foul line, where UMKC outscored the Racers 19-9. Jonathan Stark had 17 points and 9 rebounds for Murray State (2-2).

UNC-Wilmington 68, East Tennessee State 59. I though ETSU looked like a heck of a good team against the Titans, but host UNC-Wilmington (3-0) had little difficulty with the Buccaneers today, leading by 12 at the half and stifling every ETSU rally in the second period. The Buccaneers didn't help their cause by turning it over 20 times. T.J. Cromer led ETSU (2-1) with 22 points.

Other Games:#13 Michigan State 78, Florida Gulf Coast 77. MSU missed three free throws in the final 22 seconds, but hung on against Gulf Coast when the Eagles were unable to get off a shot on the final in-bounds. Gulf Coast Coach Joe Dooley complained that a clock malfunction cost his team that shot--they had 1.6 seconds, but when the in-bounds pass was first touched the clock read zero. Maybe--but State escaped, and after trailing the Eagles with two minutes left. FGCU (1-3) didn't score from the floor until seven minutes into the game, but fought hard and never trailed by more than 6 in the second half. The upset bid was led by Antravious Simmons, who had 18 points and 12 rebounds. Eron Harris had 31 points (and two of those late missed free throws) for State (3-2).

Boise State 91, Western Michigan 70. Chandler Hutchinson had 20 points and 12 rebounds and Boise State (2-2) shot 59% to hand Western (1-4) its 4th straight defeat.

#1 Duke 75, #21 Rhode Island 65. Duke (4-1) never trailed and only a meaningless 13-2 finish by Rhode Island in the final 3 minutes made the final score more or less respectable. Luke Kennard led Duke with 24 points, and Amile Jefferson had 17 points and 15 rebounds. Jared Terrell had 22 for Rhode Island (4-1).#2 Kentucky 93, Duquesne 59. Kentucky led 50-23 at the half, and will take the top spot in the polls tomorrow.#3 Villanova 67, Central Florida 57. UCF (3-1) was another team to drop from the undefeated ranks. Taco Fall had 20 points and 13 rebounds in the defeat.#8 Virginia 62, Yale 38. UVa's defense under Tony Bennett has become a thing of beauty. They're giving up an average of 40.3 points through 3 games, which they've won by an average of almost 30 points. #11 Xavier 67, Northern Iowa 59. Trevon Bluett had 20 and Detroiter Edmund Sumner 17 as Xavier (5-0) dropped UNI from the undefeated ranks.#16 UCLA , Long Beach State . The Bruins were leading Long Beach by 36 with 12:23 to play. I think they're safe.#20 Iowa State 130, Citadel 63. Iowa State avenged poor little Johnson, which the Citadel beat 146-84 a week ago. The Cyclones shot 61% as a team.#22 Creighton 112, NC State 94.#24 Cincinnati 71, Penn State 50.

Mid-Major Win of the Day: Davidson 68, Arizona State 60.

Last edited by Commissioner on Mon Nov 21, 2016 11:00 am, edited 1 time in total.

Some of you will know my daughter, Autumn Buysse, who has sung the Anthem at several games. She has transferred to Belmont because it is probably the leading Music School in the country that is part of an actual University. (she is actually in the burgeoning Music Business School, which is different from the Music School). And for those interested, Autumn will be back home for Thanksgiving and will be singing the Anthem at the Manhattan Game. But I digress:

Autumn was at their first men's bball home game vs. Western KY. She sent me a picture and they fill up pretty nicely but they have an OU-sized arena and it was not a sellout and this was their home opener on a Saturday Night against a local opponent with a good bball history. She said the difference between our games and their games is Belmont draws students. Of course that means it's going to be a rowdier, home-court atmosphere. She said the school really played up the game well to the student body. She also said Belmont has a balanced inside-out offense, for what that's worth, and a kid who reminded her of Minnerath.

She transferred partly for music and partly because Belmont has an active traditional on-campus student body. They are in a Nashville neighborhood, just like U-D. But the Music Schools bring in a strong out-of-state contingent. I guess our "out of state" contingent is for the Schools of Engineering & Architecture. But Belmont has many well-to-do alums investing back in their school. They are landlocked more than we are (in other words, their neighborhood hasn't deteriorated as much as ours has, so they don't have old residential neighborhoods they can purchase and turn into something new). So they are using much of their cash influx to knock down older dorms and turn them into new dorms and new apartments. Autumn and her roommate are talking about moving into a campus apartment next year but all that means is they will be about 200 yards further away than they are now and can still be on the campus meal plan.

I have been there 3 times now and they would be an excellent Horizon addition. I was there about 2 weeks ago with Roger and we caught the Mens Soccer last game of the year, against U-D. The promos on campus, by the way, for Senior Night, called us simply "Detroit". They have to use a city park for soccer, baseball and softball, which is about a mile away. A very nice complex with lights for all 3 fields. They drew a decent crowd for mens soccer, which had a bad year, as we did. Several U-D players had family in the stands -- the 550 mile or so trip did not deter them.

We should go after Belmont hard. Another private religious school and a perfect fit for our league.

Commissioner - old habits are hard to break. Especially when you are under pressure and reacting to a physically superior team. It will take the team awhile to trust the process that is being installed by the new coaches. This has been especially true on offense this year so far. But it appears that BA wants to install his defensive scheme first. So, we are beginning to see glimpses of that process working as planned. At least, this is how I see the progress to date. Hopefully, the guys keep up their intensity against the lesser-known opponents. But, you are right about the loose balls. Very frustrating to watch both Illinois and FSU get the vast majority of them.

As to FSU, remember that this team had received some Top 25 votes and yet was picked to finish 8th in the ACC. And our defense did expose some weaknesses on that team.

Horizon:A fine night for the Horizon, including a marquee win over an SEC team.

Valparaiso 68, Alabama 60. Valpo's recent successes earned them a seat at the big people's table for the MGM Main Event, rather than being relegated to the "regional rounds." And the Crusaders (4-1) took advantage, leading after halftime for all but a few seconds. Alec Peters led the way with 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Jubril Adekoya added 16 points. Bama (2-2) was picked to finish 7th in the SEC.

Green Bay 95, UMKC 77. Walter Jones and Charles Cooper led a balanced attack with 17 points each as the Phoenix (3-2) rolled past the Kangaroos (3-2) at Bowling Green.

Wright State 109, Ohio Dominican 54. The Raiders (3-1) padded their record with a rout of Dominican. Grant Benzinger had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Mark Alstork connected for 23, lowering his season average to 30.3 points per game.

Non-Conference Opponents:Bowling Green 78, Murray State 77. Bowling Green (1-4) got on the board with a close win over Murray State. The victory wasn't sealed until Jonathan Stark's jumper was off the mark with 1 second left. Zack Denny, who hit what turned out to be the game winning shot with 53 seconds to play, led Bowling Green with 17 points. Damajeo Wiggins added 13 points and 9 rebounds. Stark had 28 for the Racers (2-3), and was supported by Bryce Jones with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Winthrop 84, Illinois 81 (OT). See, Big 10 teams can be beaten by mid-majors. Illinois jumped out to a 14-2 lead, but Winthrop came back and briefly took the lead before entering the locker room down 4 at the half. Illinois led the entire second half and was up 10 with under three minutes to play, still up 8 with under 2 minutes to play, when Keon Johnson and Xavier Crooks took over. Johnson hit a trey to cut the lead to 5. Crooks got a steal on the next possession, leading to another Johnson bucket to cut the margin to 3 with a minute left. After a missed Malcolm Hill jumper, Crooks hit a three pointer to tie it, and Hill missed another shot with 5 seconds left, leading to overtime. Winthrop, which led for a total of 29 seconds in all of regulation, never trailed in the overtime. Johnson led Winthrop (3-1) with 38 points. Crooks added 13 and Tevin Prescott had 9 rebounds and 10 points, including 6 in the OT. Michael Finke led Illinois (4-1) with 18. Hill finished with 14 points and 9 rebounds, but was just 4-17 from the floor.

Other Games:Central Michigan 88, Pepperdine 77. So the Lone Star Showcase is a tournament held in Cedar Park, Texas, just outside of Austin. This year, the competing teams are these two plus St. Bonaventure and Arkansas-Little Rock. What's the point? I guess for Central it's picking up a win or two, which they did by scalping Pepperdine (3-1). Marcus Keene had his third 30-point game of the season, finishing with 36 on 14-22 shooting. He also had 7 assists. The Chips are off to a 4-0 start, with Keene averaging 30.3 ppg.

#5 Kansas 83, UAB 63.#8 Arizona 71, Northern Colorado 55.

#12 Creighton 86, Mississippi 77. Marcus Foster had 25 for the winners, who are 5-0. Deandre Burnett and Rasheed Brooks each scored 22 for Mississippi (4-1).

Georgetown 65, #13 Oregon 61. Georgetown (2-2) was almost flawless in the first half, leading 38-21 at the break. But Oregon scored the first 9 points in the second half and finally took the lead at 43-42. Georgetown recovered, stretched the lead back to 11 with 2:30 to play, and held off one final Oregon rally. Rodney Pryor led G'Town (2-2) with 26 points and 10 rebounds, including a Sports Center highlight heave to end the first half. Payton Pritchard had 18 off the bench to lead Oregon (2-2).

Northwestern 77, #22 Texas 58. A 19-1 Northwestern run sandwiched around halftime gave the Wildcats (3-1) a comfy lead and they went on to win easily at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn.

Oklahoma State 98, Connecticut 90. OSU (4-0) raced out to an 18-3 lead in the opening minutes and never trailed. The teams shot a total of 84 free throws in an excruciatingly long game (the refs were even-handed--each team shot 42). Juwan Evans had 35 for the Cowboys, topping Jalen Adams, who had 34 for UConn. Connecticut is 1-3 with losses to Wagner and Northeastern.

Loyola 88, Washington State 79. Loyola (5-1) gets a good win down in the Virgin Islands. This was the Ramblers first win over a PAC 12 school since 1987.

Mid-Major Win of the Night: Bucknell 75, Vanderbilt 72. Huzzah for Bucknell (3-2), which overcame an early 11 point deficit to lead by halftime, then fended off Vanderbilt down the stretch, making 6 of 6 free throws in the final 32 seconds. The Bison out-rebounded he taller Commodores and shot 51% for the night. Bryce Drews' Commodores are 2-2.

67 teams remain unbeaten.

Last edited by Commissioner on Tue Nov 22, 2016 8:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

Non-Conference Opponents:Fort Wayne 71, #3 Indiana 68 (OT). This was just a great performance by the Mastadons, who shot well and protected the ball (just 8 turnovers). Both teams played their hearts out, and fatigue really showed in the OT. Detroit native DeAngelo Stewart blocked James Blackman's shot in the lane, then hit two free throws with 2 seconds left to clinch the win. Fort Wayne took the lead 4-3 1:18 into the game, and didn't relinquish it until nearly 4 minutes into the second half. They got it back just 8 seconds later, and stretched it out to 12 points, 61-49, with just under 10 minutes to play. The Hoosiers rallied, but it wasn't easy. They finally tied it at 65 on a pair of Thomas Bryant free throws with 20 seconds to play. Kason Harrell missed the Mastadons effort to win it with a last second shot in regulation, but hit a three pointer to open the OT, the Mastadons' only points from the floor in the extra period. The win was Fort Wayne's first ever over a ranked team. Bryson Scott led Fort Wayne (3-2) with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and John Konchar added 15 and 12. By the way, this game was played in Fort Wayne. I suspect this is the last time Indiana will agree to play in Ft. Wayne for a long, long time.

Middle Tennessee State 80, Toledo 70. Middle Tennessee led by 13 at the half, then opened the second period with a 15-8 blitz, and it was all she wrote for Toledo. Steve Taylor did have 17 points and 10 rebounds for Toledo (2-2). Remember that name for when we visit Toledo in a couple weeks: The 6-9 senior has three straight double-doubles, and is averaging 16 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists, while shooting 60% from the floor.

Western Kentucky 77, North Carolina A&T 56. The Hilltoppers outscored the Aggies 31-11 at the foul line. Que Johnson had 18 and Justin Johnson 12 points and 10 rebounds for WKU (3-1).

Siena Heights 78, Adrian 59. Attendance was 575 for this cross-town rivalry, which will probably beat attendance at tomorrow's Detroit-New Hampshire game in Durham.

Games Moose is Betting On:St. Bonaventure 102, Central Michigan 71. CMU's 4-0 start came to an abrupt end at the Lone Star Showcase in Austin. Marcus Keene led the Chips with 23. Matt Mobley had 28 for the Bonnies (2-2).

#4 North Carolina 107, Oklahoma State 75. UNC (6-0) hands Oklahoma State (4-1) its first loss.#5 Kansas 65, Georgia 54. Pontiac's Yante Maten, a guy the Titans offered, has emerged as a super stud this year. Tonight he had 30 points and 13 rebounds in the losing effort. He's averaging 22.6 points and 9.4 rebounds for Georgia (3-2). Detroiter Josh Jackson had 15 points and 11 rebounds for Kansas (4-1).

#7 Virginia 90, Grambling 34. Grambling was probably happy to get the payday, but really, Virginia should be ashamed for scheduling this game. Grambling is probably the worst program in all of D-I. The score was 49-9 at halftime. Grambling (1-3) shot 23%, had 21 turnovers, and was outrebounded 44-30. Virginia (4-0) scored pretty much at will, and fired up 34 three point shots, hitting 42%.

#16 Wisconsin 73, Georgetown 57. Bronson Koenig has 20 points and Ethan Happ had 19 points and 15 rebounds as Wisconsin won in Maui. Wisconsin never trailed after taking an early 4-3 lead, but it was close, 32-29, at the half. After the break the Badgers steadily pulled away.

#17 Purdue 85, Utah State 64. The Utes (3-1) fall from the unbeaten ranks. Dakota Mathias had 25 for Purdue (3-1).#18 Syracuse 101, South Carolina State 59. Three Syracuse players--Tyler Louden, Frank Howard, and Tyler Robeson--had double-doubles in the romp.Colorado 68, #22 Texas 54. I still think of this as a Big 12 conference game.

Notre Dame 70, Northwestern 66. The Wildcats (3-2) threw this game away. Leading 66-65 with 20 seconds left, they were unable to successfully in-bounds the ball. Steve Vasturia stole the in-bounds pass, leading to an old-fashioned three point play for Matt Farrell, and the win. Northwestern had timeouts left and could have called one on the in-bounds. Vasturia and Farrell each had 18 for the Irish (5-0).

Horizon:Another poor night for the Horizon, saved only by Valpo's win over BYU.

New Hampshire 86, Detroit 70. Granted, UNH is a good America East team, and this was on the road. Still, if we can't play within 15 points of an America East team, what have we got? The Titans have led for a total of 3 minutes, 8 seconds out of 160 minutes against D-I teams.

Nevad 82, Oakland 78. I'd suggested earlier that if Oakland performed well in the Great Alaska Shootout, they had a good chance to be 11-0 when they face MSU before Christmas. They performed pretty well last night, but not quite well enough. The Grizzlies scored the game's first 9 points and led 44-28 at halftime. Nevada fought back in the second half, finally tying it just past the 10 minute mark, and taking their first lead nearly 3 minutes later and extending it to as many as six. Marcus Marshall hit two free throws with 29 seconds left to clinch the win. Sherron Dorsey-Walker had 23 points for OU (4-1) , and Martez Walker 17. Afghan war vet Isaiah Brock made his first start for OU and had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Marshall finished with 25 for Nevada (4-1). Nevada was able to come back thanks to shooting 55% from three-point land.

Valparaiso 92, BYU 89. Tip of the hat to Valpo, which saved the Horizon from a winless night by winning the MGM Grand Main Event tournament in Vegas. This game was close all the way, and a clutch basket by Alec Peters (26 points, 12 rebounds) with 1 second on the shot clock and 13 on the game clock gave Valpo (5-1) the final margin, as BYU (4-1) missed a couple of three point attempts in the closing seconds. Shane Hammink added 23 for Valpo.

#1 Kentucky 101, Cleveland State 70. Rob Edwards' 28 points weren't enough for Cleveland State (1-3) to keep it close at #1 Kentucky (5-0). The rest of the Vikings shot less than 25%.

Other Games:#24 Michigan State 73, St. John's 62. Miles Bridges had 22 points and 15 rebounds as MSU won its third straight.South Carolin 61, #25 Michigan 45. UM's stay in the top 25 will be short after this drubbing at South Carolina (5-0). Michigan (4-1) shot 19% from the field.Little Rock 91, Central Michigan 79. Marcus Keene had 32 for CMU (4-2), his 4th 30-point game of the young season.

Non-conference Opponents:#19 West Virginia 89, Illinois 57. West Virginia (4-0) beat Illinois (4-2) by 32 and New Hampshire by 59. WVU won the turnover battle 24-6.

Temple 89, #25 Florida State 86. Well, at least we know it wasn't some invincible FSU (4-1) juggernaut that trounced the Titans last week. FSU's stay in the top 25 looks to be short, despite 22 points from Dwayne Bacon. Temple (3-2) rallied from 12 down with under 10 to play. Quinton Rose led with 26.

Other Games:#20 Baylor 73, #24 Michigan State 58. MSU led by 3 at halftime, but Baylor blew the Spartans away after the break, outscoring MSU 14-2 in the opening 4 minutes and never looking back. The Spartans (3-3) are a real letdown this year. They lost a tough one to Arizona to start the year, but have since lost by 21 to Kentucky and now 15 to Baylor. They got lucky to beat Florida Gulf Coast by 1, and labored past St. John's. Only Mississippi Valley State came easy. Jonathan Motley scored 26 for Baylor (5-0).

#8 Arizona 69, Santa Clara 61#10 Louisville 62, Wichita State 52. Wichita falls from the unbeaten ranks.#11 Gonzaga 82, Quinnipiac 62.#14 UCLA 99, Portland 77.#21 Iowa State 73, Indiana State 71. The Cyclones won the turnover battle 20-11, won the rebounding battle, and outscored the Sycamores 15-8 at the foul line. But a poor shooting night (34%) to the Sycamores solid shooting night (47%, and 41% from three) kept this game close right up to the buzzer, when a Syacamore three failed to fall. Flint's Monte Morris led Iowa State (4-0) with 20 points and 9 rebounds.

East Tennessee State 86, Milwaukee 62. Brock Stull has emerged as the go-to guy for depleted Milwaukee (1-3). He had 16 in the loss to ETSU (3-1), by a score comparable to the TItan-ETSU game.

Oakland 71, Alaska Anchorage 65. This is what happens when you lose your first round Shoot-Out game--you have to waste a game against D-II Anchorage. OU (5-1) wasn't impressive but they got the job done. Mellonhead Walker led with 25.

Toledo 83, Evansville 79 (2OT). Steve Taylor had 15 points and 15 rebounds for Toledo (3-2). The Rockets got to OT by scoring 5 points in the final minute of regulation. Jaylin Brown had 39 points and 11 rebounds for the Purple Aces (2-2).

Washington 86, Western Kentucky 47. Washington (4-1) broke open a reasonably close game with a 19-3 run midway through the second half. Western (3-2) shot just 25% from the floor.

Other Games:#24 Michigan State 77, Wichita State 72. A good win for the Spartans (4-3), who needed a good win. Lourawls Nairn had an interesting stat line for MSU--0 points, 12 assists, 5 rebounds. The Shockers lost their second straight after a 5-0 start.

Temple 81, #19 West Virginia 77. Let's see. New Hampshire beats Temple. West Virginia beats New Hampshire by 61 points. Temple beats West Virginia. Temple led by 20 at halftime, but the Mountaineers (4-1) came back and actually led by 3 late in the game. Temple (4-2) responded with an 11-4 run, and hit foul shots to clinch.

Horizon:Another bad night for the Horizon, with home losses to Manhattan, Canisius and North Carolina Central, and one of the league's better teams, Green Bay, also going down hard at home.

Manhattan 84, Detroit 81 (2 OT). Free throws.

Central Michigan 89, Green Bay 77. Not a good sign for the Horizon, to see Green Bay get hammered by CMU in the second half. Marcus Keene had 31 for Central (5-2), which won it from the three point line, hitting 14 of 36 attempts. Charles Cooper led the Phoenix (3-3) with 20.

Oakland 79, UC-Davis 66. Oakland takes two of three in the Great Alaska Shootout, but it was still an opportunity largely wasted due to their second half collapse against Nevada in the opening game. That forced Oakland to play a non-RPI game against Anchorage, and then to beat Davis, a team not nearly as good as its 5-3 record suggests, rather than getting good mid-majors Buffalo and Iona. Anyway, a win is a win, and OU is now 6-1 and returns home, with 4 very winnable games before facing MSU on December 21. Stevie Clark had 19 and Mellonhead Walker 16 in the win.

Wright State 83, North Dakota 79. WSU (5-1) continued to play well, beating the Fighting Hawks (3-2) in Dayton. Steve Davis, who entered the season not havingt played in almost 2 years due to injuries, had 23 points, and the Raiders hit 13 of 14 foul shots down the stretch.

Canisius 90, Youngstown State 84. YSU looks like the type of inconsistent team we've grown used to under Jerry Slocum, losing Saturday at home to 2-4 Canisius. Francisco Santiago had 23 points and 11 assists for the Penguins (3-4), but star Cameron Morse had just 15 points on 6-20 shooting. Kassius Robertson had 27 for Canisius.

North Carolina Central 82, Northern Kentucky 74. Patrick Cole had 32 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists as NC Central won at NKU. This was a well-played game, with just 15 turnovers total and both teams shooting well from the floor, but NKU hit just 10 of 21 foul shots, and NCC was a bit better from the floor, hitting 51%. Drew McDonald had 20 points and 11 rebounds for NKU, and LaVonne Holland added 20 points.

Northern Illinois 92, UIC 81. Many had high hopes for UIC this year, but so far they've looked more young than good. Dikembe Dixson scored 31 for the Flames (3-3) but Northern (4-3) hit 20 of 24 foul shots for the win.

Non-Conference Opponents:Eastern Michigan 94, Omaha 77. James Thompson had 21 points and 11 rebounds and Raven Lee added 20 as the Titans' next opponent, EMU, got over the .500 mark.

Bowling Green 90, Morgan State 58. Bowling Green (2-4) built on an 11 point halftime lead with a 57 point second half. Matt Fox had 18 and Dylan Fry 15 for the Falcons. David Syfax, a freshman from Detroit, had 5 points in 20 minutes for Morgan State (2-4).

Fort Wayne 79, Mississippi Valley State 54. Fort Wayne (4-2) had no let-down after their win over Indiana. Bryson Scott led the Mastadons with 23 points and 9 rebounds.

Middle Tennessee State 73, Toledo 70 (OT). Middle Tennessee forced the OT with a bucket by Giddy Potts with 5 seconds to play. In the OT, JaCorey Williams hit 3 baskets to pace the win. Williams finished with 31 for MTSU (5-1). Detroiter Jonathan Williams led Toledo with 15, but missed a three pointer for the tie at the buzzer. Steve Taylor had 14 points and 17 rebounds for Toledo (3-3), his 5th straight double-double.

#6 Duke 93, Appalachian State 58.#7 Virginia 63, Providence 52. Breaking the 50 point mark against the Cavaliers (6-0) was a moral victory for Providence (4-2).#9 Xavier 64, Northern Iowa 42. Xavier held UNI to 12 first half points.#12 Creighton 82, Loyola (Md.) 52.#17 Purdue 79, NJIT 68.South Carolina 64, #18 Syracuse 50. South Carolina scored their second win over a top 25 team this week. The Gamecocks (6-0) are poised to enter the Top 25 this week.

Maryland 69, Kansas State 68. Melo Trimble hit the winner with 6 seconds left in a battle of unbeatens. NC State 79, Loyola 77. Dennis Smith had 30 for NC State (5-1), which barely held off our old friends from Loyola (5-2). The Wolfpack kept Loyola in it by missing the front end of two one & one situations in the final 7 seconds.

Mid-Major Win of the Day: Utah Valley 114, BYU 101. Utah Valley turned it over 22 times, but also hit 18 of 37 three-point attempts to win a shootout in Provo. 4 Wolverines scored at least 20 points, offsetting 37 form BYU's Nick Emery. Utah Valley is 4-1, and I'm sure they wanted this one bad.

Also on Saturday, of interest to me, Moose, and maybe one or two others, Memphis got the first notable win of the Tubby Smith era with a 100-92 win over Iowa. Remember the name Dedrick Lawson, a sophomore forward who was preseason conference player of the year in the AAC.

Horizon:Valparaiso 79, Ball State 73. Valpo remains a bright spot in a poor early season performance for the Horizon. But even the Crusaders, with neutral court wins over Alabama and BYU, are just 109th in RPI, the best in the league. Ball State (3-3) led this one at halftime but Valpo (6-1) rallied behind Alec Peters' 23 points and 8 rebounds.

Wright State 75, North Florida 67. The nation's leading scorer entering the game, Mark Alstork, was limited to 5 points, but Grant Benzinger hit for 21 and Steve Davis 16 and Wright State, under new head coach Scott Nagy, won for the 6th time in 7 games. Wright State lost 3 of its top 4 scorers, 4 of its top 5 rebounders, its top 3 assist men, and 5 of its top 6 players in minutes played from last season.

Duquesne 78, Cleveland State 71. CSU scored 18 straight points to tie the game at 63, but finally ran out of gas in the final minutes. Freshman Kasheem Johnson led CSU (1-4) with 16 points.

South Dakota State 81, Milwaukee 58. Milwaukee did not return a single player who started a game last season, and it's been showing. South Dakota State (2-6) led 44-19 at the half. Cody Wichman had 18 to lead Milwaukee (2-4).

Non-Conference Opponents:New Hampshire 65, Winthrop 60. New Hampshire held Winthrop scoreless for the final three minutes in a come-from-behind win in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Tanner Leissner had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and Jaleen Smith added 20 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists for the Wildcats (4-2). Xaiver Cooks had 30 points for Winthrop (3-2).

UNC-Wilmington 102, Toledo 77. The Seahawks (5-1) dropped 60 points on Toledo in the second half. Jonathan Williams had 16 for Toledo (3-4).

East Tennessee State 72, Cal-Irvine 66. A sluggish ETSU (5-1) trailed at the half but finally overcame the Anteaters (3-4). 7-2 Ioannis Demekopoulos had 21 points and 9 rebounds for Irvine.

Illinois State 81, Ferris State 67. Ferris State fell to a D-I team in a non-exhibition game.

Other Games:#3 Indiana 85, Mississippi Valley State 52. Mississippi Valley seems to be the Big 10 whuppin' victim of choice this year.#11 Gonzaga 73, #21 Iowa State 71. The Cyclones (5-1) rallied from 18 down in the second half, but never quite caught up. Deonte Burton, who led Iowa State with 29, missed a three for the lead with 17 seconds left to play.#14 UCLA 74, Texas A&M 67. #15 St. Mary's 76, Alabama-Birmingham 63. St. Mary's (5-0) got a big early lead and coasted home.#16 Wisconsin 95, Prairie View A&M 50.

Florida 65, Miami 56.

Mid-Major Win of the Day: San Jose State 88, Washington State 76. San Jose (2-3) isn't even very good.

Commissioner wrote:Games for Sunday, November 27:Wright State 75, North Florida 67. The nation's leading scorer entering the game, Mark Alstork, was limited to 5 points, but Grant Benzinger hit for 21 and Steve Davis 16 and Wright State, under new head coach Scott Nagy, won for the 6th time in 7 games. Wright State lost 3 of its top 4 scorers, 4 of its top 5 rebounders, its top 3 assist men, and 5 of its top 6 players in minutes played from last season.

Thanks for the continued updates, Commish!

Scott Nagy was a very good hire by Wright State and is already paying dividends.